Globally, skepticism surrounding professionalism in education has raised questions about how effectively teachers meet students' needs and their authority in doing so. Current initiatives to professionalize teacher education (TE) face challenges from neoliberal reforms that promote alternative teaching pathways and performance-based accountability measures. In light of such external pressures, this conceptual paper explores the future of TE while addressing complexities inherent to professionalism in education. To this end, two competing ideals of teaching are examined: the teacher as an expert clinician, reflecting expertise-driven professionalism, and the teacher as a democratic pedagogue, rooted in democratic professionalism. To support this argument, I review the literature discussing professionalism within teaching and TE. To explore the expert clinician ideal and its implications for TE, I draw on Abbott’s ecological perspective on expert labor and Bernstein’s concept of ‘recontextualization.’ To investigate the democratic pedagogue ideal, I utilize Biesta’s framework of ‘democratic professionality’ and concepts of democratizing teacher knowledge as foundational to the epistemology of democratic TE. The comparative analysis of these ideals is structured by three emerging features of teachers’ work and learning to teach that the two conceptions treat differently: (a) The goals of the teaching occupation defining teachers’ commitments and central tasks; (b) the nature of teachers’ professional authority; and (c) the epistemology of TE. By recognizing the limitations and clashing logics of both ideals, I propose potential ways to integrate these competing discourses rather than treating them as dichotomous ends. This integration aims to create a more nuanced and pragmatic approach to discussing professionalism in teaching and its implications for TE. Practically, I call for establishing venues for ongoing dialogue among stakeholders from the professional and academic bodies, governmental authorities, and the local community regarding the aims of education, the nature of teachers’ authority, and the epistemology of TE.

Homeroom teachers (HTs) in Israeli schools act as the pedagogical and administrative "managers" of their classes in addition to their role as subject matter teachers.

HT plays a significant role in students' achievements, sense of belonging, well-being, and ability to deal with stressful situations. However, there is no clear definition of the HT role. The present study aimed to illustrate HT's role through four dimensions: HT-student relationships, HT-class relationships, HT relationships with the school staff, and HT-parents relationships. The links between the four dimensions and students' self-esteem and sense of belonging (Jewish and Arab) in middle school were examined.

Data were collected from 1770 middle school students (1090 Jews and 680 Arabs) and 57 HTs (27 Jews and 32 Arabs). Students and HTs completed a questionnaire of HT's four dimensions. In addition, students reported on their self-esteem and sense of belonging.

Factor analysis confirmed the division into four dimensions of HT role dimensions. In addition, findings revealed a correlation between students' (Jews and Arabs) perception of the HT's functions and the student's sense of belonging and self-esteem. T-test analysis between Jewish and Arab students revealed differences in three dimensions (HT-student relations, HT-class relations, and HT involvement in the organization). In each of these dimensions, the Arab students gave their teachers a higher score than Jewish students. No difference was found in the HT-parent relationship dimension. Furthermore, among Jewish, correlations were found between students and HTs regarding the HT role dimensions.

Several conclusions emerged from the research: (1) students' perceptions of HT's function relate to their functioning in school. (2) Arabs and Jewish students and HTs differ in their perceptions of HTs functioning. (3) Teacher training needs to address the role of HTs in all four dimensions.

This paper explores the findings of a Delphi professional symposium, which was embedded in a research project funded by the Society for Educational Studies. The purpose was to examine the extent to which university faculty, associate faculty and school based mentors evaluating/assessing teacher candidates applied consistent patterns and criteria of judgment; drew on the similar observational strategies and voiced similar patterns of justification for such judgment. This element in the research brought together international respected authorities to explore in detail the preliminary findings from earlier phases, which drew upon Social judgment theory (SJT). This approach supported and informed the enquiry (Cooksey, 1998; 1996) and emphasised careful identification and analysis of the context of judgment and the cues and policies used by judges hence making it fit for an investigation into the judgments teacher educators make in coming to a judgement as to early career teacher efficacy. The preliminary findings emerged from an extensive literature review and a tri-nation (England, Wales, Scotland) study of the particular charcateristics of different categories of judges (university faculty/associatetutors/school-based mentors).

Methods: The Delphi method (Green, 2014) brought together nine (9) national and international experts in education to take up these findings in a full day of discussion and consensus building. Drawing upon a four phase, iterative process of questions interspersed with controlled feedback, the goal was to generate a reliable consensus opinion on the priorities afforded to different considerations in the judgement of new teachers’ practices, Each phase was afforded ever greater refinement of the categories of judgment.

Findings:

Some complex themes emerged, including;

the conflation of competence and judgment

the complexity afforded by stakeholder/democratic imperatives

accountability and power

translation problems between different constituencies

the clhallenge of con text and consistency

collaboration and consistency

challenges in maintaining an intergenerational conversation

emerging models and 'clinical' practice

In the 21st century, new social, expressed through the globalization of the economy, technological advancements, human mobility, and environmental concerns , are driving changes in educational systems, teaching practices, and teacher identity. The main research question is: how does the reconfiguration of teacher identity and teacher professionalization of teachers occur in response to these new social demands to achieve more equitable education? The general objective is to examine teacher identity and teacher professionalization, considering changes in basic education pedagogical practice in interactions with quality teaching for a more equitable world. The study methodology is based on narratives. Thirty testimonies from basic education teachers in Brazil were obtained. The study employs the Positioning Theory, the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) (Engeström, 2008); Analysis of Narratives and Narrative Analysis (Creswell, 2016), teacher identity theories (Marcelo, 2009), and the Multidimensional Adapted Process Model (MADP) (Metsäpelto, et al, 2022). Preliminary results indicate that teachers, most of whom are female, decide to pursue their profession due to family influence and continue to be enthusiastic about teaching. Regarding changes in their profession, the following were indicated: skills for the insertion of digital technologies, welcoming of inclusion students, pedagogical practices for collaborative learning and large-scale assessment. It is worth noting that this is a collaborative research project carried out with the participation of researchers from several countries: Brazil, India, Poland, Finland, Germany, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Hong Kong. The interactions enable the sharing of knowledge and an expanded understanding of teacher training and professional performance.

As political and social structures continually frame teachers as either monsters or heroes,
teaching professionsals have used social media to share and strengthen their identities as
human beings and competent professionals. By examining the counterspaces teachers have
created on Instagram and TikTok, a team of international researchers investiagte how teachers
use social media to present multiple plotlines of identity in a shared space. By incorporating
global perspectives and the expansive social media environment, an important element of
teacher identity is more fully investigated through a grounded theory approach. This paper
demonstrates how social media community enactment allows teachers to rebel against
narrow, dualisitic images of self to expansive, holistic, and robust idenities that both support
and create practices, methods, and beliefs for a variety of teachers and disciplines.